Sri Lanka a very giving nation according to survey

Sri Lanka has been ranked 8 in the “World Giving Index 2015” a global view of giving trends conducted by the Charities Aid Foundation. It was ranked 9th in the top 20 countries in the 4 year (2010-2014) World Giving Index, with score and participation in giving behaviours of each country.

The survey which was conducted on 135 countries looked into how each country volunteered time, assistance to those who needed it as well as donated money.

Myanmar was ranked 1 in the survey while the United States was ranked 2, United Kingdom was ranked 6. Further Sri Lanka received a “World Giving Index Score” of 56% while, Myanmar scored 66 and USA scored 61%.

However Sri Lanka came in second in “Volunteering Time Score” with 48 % in the top 20 while Myanmar scored 50%, the United States scored 44% while the United Kingdom scored the lowest in that segment with 32% in the top ten. In another segment of the survey, the “Donating money score” Myanmar scored 92% while Sri Lanka scored 59%.

It was further reported that following a religious philosophy was also a factor in driving donations, with two countries with a Theravada Buddhist community ranking 1 (Myanmar) and 8 (Sri Lanka).

Further in the WGI report released in 2014 it was noted that ; “Nine out of ten people within Myanmar follow the Theravada school of Buddhism, 8 under which the lives of the Sangha (ordained monks and nuns) are supported by dana (charitable giving) by lay followers of the religion. This clearly translates into a strong culture of charity, with Myanmar ranked first for donating money and 13 percentage points ahead of the second placed country. Sri Lanka, another country with a strong Theravada Buddhist community, 9 also ranked within the Top 10 of the World Giving Index (placed 9th). According to the survey 69% of Sri Lankans follow Theravada Buddhism.

It was further noted that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country did not in most part affect the giving behaviour as only few countries with a very high GDP and considered developed nations making it to the top 20.